So I was talking to John last night – or should I say, lamenting – the complete paucity of blabber mouthed celebs this season. It sucks, quite frankly. Last season at this time I had reported on a significant number of people who had spilled the beans via Twitter (Kelly Osbourne, Debi Mazar, to name two). It seems that, excepting Jason Chambers and Chad Ochocinco (although that was his friends, not him), there is very little to report from Twitter – and I have to think that perhaps the DWTS peeps had wised up about the whole Twitter thing, telling potential stars to SHUT IT. So, because we’re less than three weeks out, I thought it was time for a little review of what HAS been rumored and reported on, either here or elsewhere. I’ll discuss them by the categories I mentally put them in:

The Real Rumors with Real Potential Category

Most recently, the two big rumors have been Pam Anderson and John Stamos. Pam was outed as a potential by RadarOnline, and Karina Smirnoff claims that John was asked for a previous season and had to decline due to his Broadway commitments. I find it highly amusing that she’s putting in a claim on him just in case he changes his mind. But, for some reason, I’m not inclined to believe this one will happen – assuming Karina is correct. I just consider John Stamos to be “too big” of a star to actually consider the show. Although it’s possible he could have been asked, I suppose. But I don’t see it happening. Pam Anderson? That one sure sounds likely and I haven’t seen anyone report that Pam denied it.

I guess that the Jennifer Grey rumor goes in this category. I think. Page Six reported that she was in negotiations way back in December but I’ve not heard much about it since then. Very well could be true – we find out in three weeks.

There are a couple of rumors that go here, but not necessarily for DANCING. Paula Abdul (judge or dancer?), Marie Osmond (shudder – potential new co-host) and Nancy O’Dell (potential new co-host). I think the Marie thing is more speculation than actual rumor. Billy Bush reported that there were 5 candidates remaining for the co-host job and that he was REALLY rooting for one in particular. That says Nancy O’Dell to me. The Marie thing was, I think, people taking his words and speculating. I HOPE. And who the heck knows what is going on with Paula Abdul.

The Blabbermouth Celebrity Category

Jason Chambers is kinda lonely in this category, this season. He straight up said he had meetings with DWTS producers, as I discussed in a post back on February 1, 2010. Because he blabbed, he may have blown his chance. The woman in me hopes like hell he hasn’t. Chad Ochocinco, on the other hand, was outed by a former team mate as being a possibility for last season. As I said before, celebs rumored for one season often show up on later seasons. Interestingly enough, I did see some twitter chatter that said Chad was going to LA this week – the speculation by these people was that his trip was related to DWTS. I guess we’ll see. And I almost forgot – Dirt Nasty (aka Simon Rex)! He claims he met with the producers back in early January. Did I read that this guy now does porn, or did I imagine that?

The PLEASE PUT ME ON DWTS Category

This is a surprisingly large category. I’ll just make a list of the ones I’m aware of, starting with the oldest one (from late 2009)
– Flight Time (aka Herbert Lang) of the Harlem Globetrotters by way of The Amazing Race
– Jermaine Dupre
– Kate Gosslin
– Danielle Fishel
– Ross Mathews
– Greg Louganis (who could also fit in the category below)
– Kevin Federine – this one is per Ryan Seacrest on his radio show this morning. It seems I’ve heard this one before, but maybe I’m confusing him with someone else.
– Candace Cameron Bure – I think we can safely put her in this category based on what I posted here.

That’s all I could find right now. I’m sure someone will pop in (with links) to remind me of others who want to be on the show.

And finally…. The “We’ve Heard This one Before” Category

Back on January 4th, I wrote a couple posts detailing rumors from previous seasons. The intent was to keep track of previous rumors to see if any of them came true for Season 10. Those posts were also titled Rumor Round Up and Rumor Round Up Part II – I’m not going to list all that again, so if you’re curious, click!! Kurt Angle, Bethany Frankel and Vera Wang are the only ones I’ve heard any followup on recently. It’s all speculation on the part of views, as I recall, so I won’t detail it here.

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

My oh my – we are barely done with Season 9 and the Season 10 speculation starts to crank up.

First up – Jermain Dupre is telling people he would be interested in doing Dancing with the Stars. I’ve seen this one for a couple days now and took it as just talk. I still think it’s “just talk”, but I figured I would post it in the “you just never know” category. From Access Hollywood via some site called DimeWars:

Any Amazing Race fans out there besides me and John? Well, one of the Globetrotters who just got eliminated from the race is saying HE wants to do DWTS – his nickname is Flight Time. Keep in mind that both Flight Time and Jermaine are likely just making it known they would do it if they were to be asked and I think we’re WAY too far out at this point to say this is anything more than wishful thinking on their parts. From the LA Times:

He may not have won the $1 million, but could “Amazing Race” also-ran Herbert “Flight Time” Lang be redirecting his competitive sights to a shiny Mirrorball trophy instead?

The just-eliminated Flight Time (pictured, left), of the “Race’s” popular Harlem Globetrotters team of Flight Time and Big Easy, cracked open the possibility of outfitting himself in glittery face decals and sequins when asked by EW.com if there was a chance that he could show up on another reality show. “I feel like I can do anything now,” he responded. “I enjoy watching ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and I think I’m a pretty good dancer.”

I would love it – these guys were the best sports, played a great game and they never got upset, or fought. They were very entertaining. I say yes.

Now, addressing the rumor that either Maks or Karina could be sitting in the audience next season, Maks, Karina and ABC all say it’s not true. According to Entertainment Weekly:

According to a source at ABC, “The casting of professionals is determined by the casting of the celebrities, which is still in progress.” Chmerkovskiy’s rep corroborated: “Maks has a contract that goes beyond season 10. As to if he’s coming back or not for next season, that always depends on casting.” Smirnoff’s rep called the one-or-the-other rumor “malicious,” and added, “Karina loves being on Dancing With the Stars and has a professional working relationship with Maksim. I can assure you that she has every intention of returning in the spring.”

Yeah, neither dancer is going anywhere. With each passing season, the pros are bigger stars (and bigger initial draws) than most of the celebrities. ABC will do anything to hold on to the top tier pros AND if they fight it just means better ratings and more attention. Controversy is cash. Derek is fond of saying “Well, if they cast all 6 foot tall women, then Mark and I are out.” While not necessarily true, it’s reasonably accurate – that said, I got 100 buck they make sure they have a couple shorter women in there. Although…Derek didn’t give that stock answer the most recent time he was asked….hmmmm….hold me, I’m getting scared.

Speaking of Derek – I just found out one of the things he’s doing in the off season. A pretty high profile choreography gig! He’s choreographing Cheryl Cole’s next single off her hit album in London. Cheryl Cole is a judge of the British show The X-Factor (created and also judged by Simon Cowell). She is also huge in England (and Europe?) as a recording artist and got started in a group called Girls Aloud on Pop Stars (English version of American Idol). Derek talks about his gig in this video I posted on PureDerekHough - he’s at the 10 minute mark.

Finally, I don’t know that I mentioned this before, but congratulations to Kym Johnson for her Broadway Debut in Burn the Floor!! Couldn’t have happened to a nicer girl! She’s dancing with Maks who returns to the show after a successful run in the late summer. From Theater Mania:

Kym Johnson isn’t exaggerating when she says the last week of November was “the craziest week of my life.” On Tuesday, November 24, she and her celebrity partner, Donny Osmond, were crowned champions of the ninth season of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, and on Friday, November 27, she made her Broadway debut in the dance extravaganza Burn the Floor. TheaterMania recently spoke with Johnson about these significant events and her plans for the future.

TM: Is this your first time doing Burn the Floor?
KJ: I was in the original workshop in 1998, and then I toured with it for six years — we even did Radio City Music Hall. But it’s definitely changed a lot; it was more of an arena-style show in the past. Now, it’s much more intimate. I also had to learn all new choreography; but since I am really familiar with Jason Gilikson’s style, it wasn’t so hard.

TM: You’re appearing in the show with your Dancing with the Stars co-star Maksim Chmerkovskiy. What is that like?
KJ: We’re good friends, so it’s nice to be dancing with him every night. And no offense, but on Dancing, you don’t dance fully with another professional, so I am really enjoying this. Plus, on the show, I had to choreograph all the numbers and come up with songs, costumes, and all that. It’s nice that I don’t have to keep thinking every minute and I can just dance.

TM: What was your reaction when you found out your partner was going to be Donny Osmond?
KJ: The dancers are always playing guessing games before they tell us who our partners are, and I think everyone was jealous. I had a good feeling from the beginning; I knew he was dedicated and would give everything. His work ethic is so professional.

TM: What was your off-stage relationship like?
KJ: Donny is the nicest man; he had a smile on his face every day. He used to give me singing lessons on our lunch break, which was a real role reversal. He would bully me into singing, and I’d bully him into dancing. He thinks I have a good voice. He tells me I should do it professionally. We’ll see.

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)